Holder for golf club covers



July 30, 1957 l E. B. ucHi-R 2,800,696

HOLDER FOR GOLF -CLUB ovERs Filed Feb. 18, 195.55l

' 32 Tilzzl. INVENTOR ELM/000 6. A/C//EEL atent 2,800,696 Patented `Fuly 30, 1957 ffice HOLDER FUR GOLF CLUB COVERS Elwood B. Aicher, Manhasset, N. Y.

Application February 18, 1955, Serial No. 489,025

3 Claims. (Cl. 24-73) This invention relates to covers for golf clubs, and more particularly to a holder for the same.

Golf clubs may be divided into irons and woods. A bag of clubs may include anywhere from two to ve woods, and in order to protect the heads of the clubs, many players use covers which are slipped over the heads. These are somewhat like mittens and may be made of leather, plastics, or fabrics such as knit wool. However, a difculty arises in that a cover is readily mislaid or lost after being removed to use the club. In order to overcome this diiiiculty, it has been proposed to tie the series of covers together, so that when one is removed from a club, it is held by its connection to the other covers which remain on their clubs. However, this in turn has led to considerable diiculty because of tangling or knotting of exible strand between the covers, due to the ever changing relation of the clubs within the bag.

The primary object of the present invention is to overcome the foregoing difficulties, and to provide -a holder or connecting means between the covers, which holder is so devised as to effectively prevent tangling. Further and more specific objects are to provide a holder which is readily attached to the covers; which is provided with means affording free rotation of each cover about an axis transverse of the strand to which it is connected; to provide means affording rotation of each cover about the axis of the strand; and to provide a strand which is itself resilient, or which is made so by a resilient sleeve slipped over the strand, or both, so that the strand inherently seeks to avoid knotting or tangling.

To accomplish the foregoing objects, and other more specific objects which will hereinafter appear, my invention resides in the holder elements, and their relation one to another, as are hereinafter more particularly described in the following specification. The specification is accompanied by a drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a holder embodying features of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinally sectioned fragmentary View of one end of the holder drawn to enlarged scale;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken approximately in the plane of the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken approximately in the plane of the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a section through a swivel connection forming a part of each of the attaching means on the holder;

Fig. 6 is a partially sectioned elevation of a modification; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view showing the holder in use.

Referring to the drawing, and more particularly to Fig. 7, I there show a golf bag 12 carrying a set of clubs. The irons are indicated at 14, and the woods at 16. In the present case there are four woods, protected by readily removable covers or mittens 1S, 20, 22 and 24. These may be numbered "1 to 4 to assist the player in selectingk the desired club. The covers are connected to one another by a flexible holder generally designated 26.

Referring now to Fig. 1 of the drawing, the holder 26 comprises a flexible strand 28, and a plurality of tiexible tubular spacers 30 slid over the strand 28. There are also a plurality of attaching means generally designated 32, for connecting the strand 28 to the golf club covers shown at 20, 22 and 24. The attaching means 32 are spaced along the strand 28 by the exible tubular sleeves 30. These sleeves are preferably made of a material which is somewhat resilient, as well as flexible. In the present case they are made of polyethylene.

The attaching means 32 each comprises a first part 34 (Fig. 1) which is rotatable about the strand 28, and a member 36 which is to be secured to the golf club cover. In the present case this member 36 is a somewhat safetypin-like device which may be opened as shown at 38, or closed after passing the same through a part of the cover as shown at 40. The attaching means 32 further comprises a freely rotatable swivel connection 42, which is disposed between the rst part 34 and the means 36. This swivel connection is very important in the practical operation of the holder, for it affords free rotation of the cover.

The particular form of swivel here used is one which is already inexpensively available in connection with fishing gear. lt is shown in larger scale in Fig. 5, in which it will be seen that there is a rst eyelet 44, which terminates in a head 46, and a second eyelet 48, which terminates in a head 50. These heads are received within an elliptical or bead-like element 52, the ends of which are subsequently spun inward as shown in idealized shape at S4, thereby connecting the eyes or rings 44 and 48 to one another, while at the same Itime affording free rotation of one relative to the other.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawing, the strand 28 here shown is a helical rust-proof music wire spring. The particular spring shown employs a #0.02 music wire. This type of strand has the advantage that it is resilient, and tends of itself to remain straight, and to spring back to a straight or untangled condition, although readily bendable as required by the disposition of the clubs in the bag, or when removing one cover from its club. However, a coiled spring, without more, has the disadvantage of possible meshing of the coils of one part of the spring with the coils of another part of the spring. This is effectively avoid-ed by using flexible sleeves around the spring, as here shown. Thus the sleeves serve a number of purposes, one being to guard against meshing of the coils, and another being to properly space the attaching means along the strand. When the sleeve is made of a resilient material it serves an additional purpose in tending to straighten the holder and thus to additionally avoid tangling. In the particular case here shown the sleeves are about three inches long.

The ends of strand 28 may be terminated by a molded plastic pin having an enlarged head. This is best shown in Fig. 2, in which the molded plastic end comprises a pin or stem portion 56, a shoulder portion 5S, and agen- -erally spherical head 60. The shoulder portion S8 provides an undercut which effectively anchors the end of the spring 28.

The means for securing the attaching means 32 to the strand 28 may take -a number of forms. In the present case I employ a short length of a helical rust-proof music Wire spring indicated at 62 (Fig. l). This is a spring of slightly larger diameter than spring 28, so that one may be slid over the other. Spring 62 is preliminarily secured to the eye 44 by screwing or threading half its length through the eye, as will be clear from inspection of Figs. l and 2 of the drawing. This may be done before the spring 62 is slid over the spring 28.

It will be understood that the main strand may be made of material other than the music wire spring 28. Thus, referring to Fig. 6 of the drawing, I show a modified form of the invention in which the holder comprises a 2,800,696 r V 'rstrand 64 which is a metal chain. A ball-type chain is preferred, of a type already well-known and commonly used in electric fixtures and plumbing iixtures and the like. In thepresent case the chain is preferably of the type used in the plumbing field, in which the balls are of much larger diameter than those used in pull chains for electric fixtures. The end of the chain is terminated in an enlarged ball 66, which is 'sprung over the endmost ball 68 of the chain itself.

The swivel connection 32 may be like that previously described, and it may be connected to the chain 64 by a suitable ring 70, which is preferably large enough to just slide over the chain. The attaching means 32 are spaced apart along the chain by means of tubular sleeves 72. Here again the sleeves may have a suitable length, say three inches, and are preferably made of a resilient plastic such as polyethylene. VThe sleeves again function as spacers, and as means tending normally to straighten the sections of the chain and to prevent knotting or tangling of the chain.

The number of sections and attaching means may be varied, as previously described, to accommodate the desired number of wood clubs. In the alternative, the holder may be made with a maximum number of attaching means, some of which may be left unused when the bag has fewer clubs. It will be understood that the remote end of the holder, not shown in Fig. 6, is suitably terminated by an enlarged ball like that shown at 66.

It is believed that the method of constructing and using my improved holder for golf club covers, as well as the advantages of the same, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description. It will also be apparent that while I have shown and described my invention in several preferred forms, changes may be made in the structures shown without departing from the scope of the invention, as sought to be defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A holder for golf club covers, said holder comprising a exible strand, said strand being a helical rust-proof music wire spring, a plurality of flexible tubular spacers slid over said strand, each of said spacers being a readily bendable tube and a plurality of attaching means for connecting said strand to golf club covers, said attaching means being spaced apart along said strand by said exible tubular spacers, and said spacers being substantially longer than said attaching means.

2. A holder for golf club covers, said holder comprising a flexible strand, said strand being a helical rust-proof music wire spring, a plurality of exible tubular spacers slid over said strand, each of said spacers being a readily bendable tube and a plurality of attaching means for connecting said strand to golf club covers, said attaching means being spaced apart along said strand by said flexible `tubular spacers, said spacers being substantially longer than said attaching means, said attaching means each including a member to be secured to a golf club cover,

and a freely rotatable swivel connection between said member and said strand.

3. A holder for golf club covers, said holder comprising a flexible strand, a plurality of exible tubular spacers slid over said strand, each of said spacers being a readily bendable tube and a plurality of attaching means for connecting said strand to golf club covers, said attaching means being spaced apart along said strand by said exible tubular spacers, said spacers being substantially longer than said attaching means, said attaching means each including a member to be secured to a golf club cover, and a freely rotatable swivel connection between said member and said strand, said strand being a helical'rustproof music wire spring, and the attaching means being held on the strand by means of a short length of helical spring wire having a diameter slightly larger Ithan the diameter of the strand.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 825,753 Paul July 10, 1906 898,788 Scheif Sept. 15, 1908 1,720,287 Moore July 9, 1929 1,957,577 Chapman May 8, 1934 2,062,386 Withey Dec. 1, 1936 2,297,623 Hickman Sept. 29, 1942 2,532,195 Rosenow Nov. 28, 1950 2,547,335 May Apr. 3, 1951 2,595,700 Plough May 6, 1952 2,644,263 Allen July 7, 1953 

